Meet the Founder

Gregory Casagrande is the driving force behind The MicroDreams Foundation (“MicroDreams”) and South Pacific Business Development (“SPBD”), which make up the first successful microfinance network across the South Pacific, with operations in Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and the Solomon Islands. (More about the founder)

Our Field Partners

MicroDreams’ goal is to help our microfinance institution (MFI) field partners to become permanently viable institutions dedicated to empowering the poor with a powerful hand-up – not a hand-out. We offer financial and non-financial support, including direct loans, loan guarantees, human resources development, strategic guidance and staff training. With our support, MFIs can establish themselves in their communities, reach sustainability, and then scale up to become permanent entities – thereby creating self-sustaining, economic networks in local villages.

MicroDreams seeks only the highest quality microfinance partners who can demonstrate managerial excellence, client growth and a healthy loan portfolio and who share our value of providing meaningful economic opportunity to those who needed it most.

We have partnered with the following microfinance institutions in the South Pacific and Latin America. MicroDreams will continue to work with new partners around the world to seed the next generation of MFIs that will benefit the world’s poor.

South Pacific Business Development (SPBD) Samoa

Founded in 2000 by Gregory F. Casagrande, SPBD Samoa is the leading and first successful microenterprise development organization in the Pacific islands. Through unsecured micro-enterprise development loans, SPBD Samoa has disbursed over 65,228 loans to Samoan women, amounting to around US$39,592,400 to many villages across Samoa. As a financially self-sustaining organization, SPBD Samoa has continually been dedicated to helping women in poverty throughout Samoa. Due to the success of SPBD Samoa, SPBD chose to expand its services to a few neighboring Pacific Island Countries. SPBD Samoa will continue to reach more clients in rural areas and also expand its urban operations by granting more loans and encouraging savings to its members.

Launched in 2009, SPBD Tonga reached financial sustainability after only 18 months in operation. SPBD Tonga has expanded onto its second, third and fourth island chains of Vava’u, Ha'apai and Eua. Since inception, SPBD Tonga has made a cumulative amount of loans disbursed of US$40,503,247 and a cumulative number of loans of 28,187. So far in the first quarter of 2016, SPBD Tonga has disbursed 961 loans to their members.

Following the success of SPBD Samoa, MicroDreams helped the launch of SPBD Tonga in 2009. In general, Tonga’s economy is vulnerable and employment opportunities are limited. Around 70% of the population lives in rural areas, where much of the rural poor lack a source of income. The labor force participation rate as a percentage of the female population is 54%, which is one reason why the help of SPBD Tonga and MicroDreams is so important.

SPBD launched services in Fiji in December 2010. After strong successes in Samoa, empower women to start microbusiness with funds sources from SPBD. Since its opening, SPBD Fiji has disbursed 25,250 loans to its clients since inception. MicroDreams expects SPBD Fiji to become the largest MFI in the SBPD network over the next 5 years with a client base in excess of 20,000 clients. Since the devastating cyclone Winston, that killed two SPBD Fiji members and destroyed many of their homes, grants from many funders have been given to SPBD for the Relief and Rehabilitation Program. MicroDreams New Zealand gave approximately US$40,540 or FJ$83,402 to the program and more funds are expected to come in the next quarter.

SPBD SI started setting up operations in November 2012 and disbursed its first loans in January 2013. As of a 2015 entry, approximately 40% of the SI population is in the labor force. From the first quarter of 2016, 1,074 and US$4,367,350 total loans have been disbursed to SPBD Solomon Islands members. Also as of the first part of 2016, there have been 5,280 savings accounts and US$ 447,640 of savings. Its offices are located in the BSP Building, in the capital Honiara. Despite the challenges presented by the Solomon Islands, many important characteristics support SPBD’s entry into and success in this new market. There is a clear demand for microloans and a lack of supply of microcredit financial access providers. SPBD’s potential clients lack financial literacy and awareness relative to their Samoa and Tonga counterparts, but the recommended training programs will address this deficiency.

Through funding from Whole Planet Foundation and PFIP, SPBD Solomon Islands opened a second branch in Munda on March 11th, 2016. In the next three years, SPBD SI plans to reach another 5,255 women entrepreneurs and give $15.4 million SBD ($1.9M USD) in loans. Already and even in the first month of its opening, the Munda branch had already served over 200 clients.

Emprender is a nonprofit organization founded on September 25, 1997 and active since 1999. The association is a Financial Development Institution dedicated to providing financial services to micro-entrepreneurs in both urban and rural areas of Bolivia. Emprender is committed to the promotion of people in poverty and economic development of entrepreneurs who lack traditional bank guarantees.

All members of Emprender obtain access to a healthcare organization program and in 2014, Emprender’s loan portfolio grew to $10 million while the number of active customers grew to over 7.5 thousand.

IDER CV was established in 1990 as a development NGO and has been involved in microfinance since 1993 through its PROCRIDER division. PROCRIDER currently has nearly 3,000 clients in the La Libertad, Tumbes and Cajamarca regions of Northern Peru. Through MicroDreams’ support, IDER CV has accessed USD 150,000 in additional financing to expand its services mainly to poor rural clients in the Huamachuco area.

IDER is a competitive and reliable institution that provides both economic and social services to rural and urban citizens of Peru. IDER is a nonprofit association founded on August 16, 1990 with headquarters in Trujilo and it is an institution that specializes in microcredit, health, rural development, and local business development. Since its founding, IDER has been committed and focused on microfinance services and training, with goals to combat poverty through certain projects.

MicroDreams has continued to help IDER expand its outreach and services into the rural regions of Peru. As of the end of 2015, IDER’s percentage of female borrowers reached 59.7% with 2,471 total active borrowers.